Tonight, Murray's City Council will discuss the potential alliance with Granger Energy, but any action could be tabled as council members seek additional information.

"We haven't seen an agreement yet," Council Chairwoman Krista Dunn said late Monday afternoon. "We all love the concept of green power, but there are a lot of questions that need to be answered."

Granger recently partnered with Trans-Jordan Cities, located at 10873 S. 7200 West in South Jordan, to generate electricity from the methane gas that rises from the 80 capped acres of rotting refuse buried at 35 to 110 feet.

Murray, a central Salt Lake Valley city that runs its own electric company, is Granger's likely customer. The city already gets three megawatts of power from methane harvested at the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility on the far western edge of Salt Lake City.

Trans-Jordan's goo would generate an additional 4.5 megawatts - enough juice to power 3,500 to 4,000 homes, says Blaine Haacke, acting general manager for Murray City Power. That would bring the total served by methane-generated electricity to 7,500.

And five years down the road, that Trans-Jordan methane production could double in size, making Murray even greener.

"We're right in line with the green-oriented vision," Haacke says. "This is good green power because it's renewable."

With a view toward clean air and reducing the effects of global warming, some states have issued mandates requiring increased use of renewable sources of energy, including solar, wind and geothermal.

"This puts us a little ahead of the game. Things are happening fast around the U.S. on this," Haacke says. "It's a little more expensive. So do we pay more for the feel-good renewable energy or stick to coal-fired?"

Trans-Jordan is a political subdivision owned and operated by seven cities: Draper, Midvale, Murray, Riverton, Sandy, South Jordan and West Jordan.

It currently has 60 wells drilled, funneling methane into a central location where it gets flared off.

However, Granger's plan is to install engines that would convert the gas to electricity - and Murray could be its first customer.

"Recycling is more than tossing a plastic bottle into a recycling can," says Trans-Jordan General Manager Dwayne Woolley, referring to the process of converting wet garbage - rotting food scraps and such - into usable energy.

The 15-year agreement would require the city to pay up to $550,000 to Rocky Mountain Power to build the connection to transmit the electricity.

However, rates would not go up. That cost would come from city reserves, says Mayor Dan Snarr.

"It's an opportunity for us to step up and protect the health of future generations," Snarr says, "or they'll suffer the consequences of our inability to make tough decisions."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com